


Your Voice Will Guide Me

by Inkyrius



Category: Persona 4
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, During Canon, Getting Together, Multi, Music
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-04
Updated: 2018-06-04
Packaged: 2019-05-09 21:37:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14724035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Inkyrius/pseuds/Inkyrius
Summary: When your soulmate is listening to music or has it stuck in their head, it's in your head, too. Unfortunately, trying to figure out who's inflicting a song on you for the fourteenth time in a row is a mystery even the Investigation Team would have trouble with.





	Your Voice Will Guide Me

**Author's Note:**

  * For [cornerandchair](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cornerandchair/gifts).



As long as she can remember, Naoto’s head has been full of music. It isn’t until she’s seven that she realizes she doesn’t recognize most of it.

She asks her grandfather about it, though she struggles to find the words. The music’s just always been there, in the back of her mind. It’s only now that she’s paying any attention to it. “It’s like… like when you hear a new song, only you’ve never actually heard it but it’s still there and you know all the words anyway.”

Her grandfather smiles at her. “That would be your soulmate.” She’s heard the word before, but only in passing. He explains, “Someone you haven’t met yet, but who’s going to love you a lot. Whenever they’re listening to music or have a song stuck in your head, you can hear it too, in your mind.”

Naoto likes the sound of that. She’s learned the importance of skepticism, though, so she tries to look thoughtful instead of excited. “How do you know? Do you have any proof?”

Her grandfather chuckles. “Well, this isn’t something that’s easy to prove, but the facts do seem to fit. You’re hardly the only one to hear music like this. Even I heard it, once, and it turned out to be coming from your grandmother.”

“Really?” Naoto thinks about the pictures she’s seen of her grandparents, how happy they look together. And if there’s someone out there who will be that happy to know her… “Wow,” she breathes.

“Whoever it is, they’re very lucky,” her grandfather says. “They’ll get to spend the rest of their life with you.”

She beams at the thought. She can’t wait for her soulmate, whoever they are. She’ll finally have someone who won’t leave her behind.

* * *

The same song has been running through Kanji’s head for like a week, and it’s driving him crazy. He’s accepted the fact that his taste in music is nothing like his soulmate’s. Their repertoire is eclectic at best; he has no idea what sort of person listens to both enka and top 40.

But this week it’s been some idol nonstop. It’s driving him crazy. Yesterday he’d sat and looked up the lyrics, hoping to at least get a sense of what possesses his soulmate to keep listening to it. He hadn’t found anything. There wasn’t so much as a blog post from a wannabe pop star complaining about writing lyrics. As far as the internet was concerned, the song might as well not exist.

Today he’s just pretending it’s not still going. It’s not a great strategy, but it’s not like he has a better one, and he wants to do on things other than worry about his soulmate and their weird tastes. He’d rather try to get some work done on his latest embroidery project.

He gets out his supplies, but he can’t quite focus. He turns the TV on for some background noise. Maybe it’ll drown out this stupid song.

There’s an ad for some home shopping show on, and he ignores it in favor of trying to find the right color floss.

Then it cuts back to the show, and he promptly drops his hoop. The TV is playing an interview with a new upcoming idol, and they’ve lead into it by playing one of her songs. It’s the one that’s been stuck in his head for the last week.

“Holy shit,” he says.

The girl on the screen calls herself Risette. She’s Kanji’s age, and apparently she’s from around Inaba, though he doesn’t recognize her.

And, of course, she’s apparently his soulmate. His soulmate Is an idol.

He picks up his embroidery hoop again, but he knows that he won’t be making any progress today. He’s too busy staring at the screen. If he wants to stand any chance of impressing an idol, he needs to learn everything he can about her.

He’s going to be the best goddamn soulmate she could ask for.

* * *

Rise’s still not sure she understands everything, the murders and the TV World and all, but it sounds more exciting than working at the tofu shop all year. Even better, it sounds like she’ll be needed. There’s something only she can do to improve people’s lives.

It’s a nice feeling. So is the way everyone laughs and teases each other and just enjoys hanging out. She hasn’t ever been part of a friend group like this, but after spending just a few minutes with them she feels that they’ll stick around. She probably didn’t even need to ask them to be her friends. They’d all just assumed it.

But the moment can’t last forever. It’s getting late, and there are exams coming up. Rise hangs around the shrine until most of the others have left. The shop isn’t far, after all, and she doesn’t really want to go home just yet. Kanji hangs around for what she assumes are similar reasons, so she smiles at him. “Do you want to walk back together?”

“Uh… sure?” He rubs the back of his neck, awkward. “Actually, there’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you.”

“Oh?” Rise’s smile dims, just a little. She and Kanji haven’t had any chances to interact yet, so whatever he has to say is probably about her idol career or her Shadow. Neither sounds appealing at the moment.

Kanji mumbles something, his face red. When Rise doesn’t react, he frowns and tries again. “I think we might be soulmates!”

“Really?” Rise puts on one of her most dazzling idol smiles. She’s had this conversation before, with fans who convinced themselves that liking her music meant there was a deep spiritual connection. She knows how to get through it. “What makes you think that?”

“Well, uh.” By this point Kanji has stopped walking and is just staring at his feet. Thankfully, the street is just about empty. “I had one of your songs stuck in my head a week before it was released.”

“That makes sense. I was practicing them a lot. I wanted my debut to be perfect.” If she were feeling particularly on, she’d make a comment about how lucky he was to get a sneak preview, but all she wants right now is to go home. She hopes this doesn’t make things awkward later. “So then what’s stuck in your head right now?”

It’s an easy way to trip her admirers up. Most of them guess their favorite of her songs, as if she’s that much of a narcissist. Some of them try to be clever and guess whatever she’s mentioned in her latest interview. They never seem to consider that it wouldn’t be coming from her.

Kanji does none of these things. “I don’t know the name, but I think it’s some sort of jazz.” He makes a face. “I could try to hum it for you? I’unno, it’s not really my thing.”

Rise’s smile slips. He’s gotten it right, and she has no script for this. “Would you?” she asks, mostly as a way to stall for time.

He hums quietly. He’s clearly untrained, but the melody is there, the same as the one running through her head. He only makes it through a few bars before cutting himself off with a groan. “Nevermind, this is dumb. I’m going home.”

“Wait!” Rise should probably say something heartfelt and meaningful, but she can’t think of anything on such short notice. She falls back on what she does best and teases him. “You’re really that into rock? I can’t say I’m surprised.”

Kanji stiffens. “Well, it’s not like you’re all that original either! I mean, you’re an idol who listens to pop music, that’s gotta be a cliché. And what’s with the jazz?”

“Huh? That’s not me.” She crosses her arms. “And besides, you’re the one who listens to _enka_. I was half convinced you’d turn out to be a middle-aged businessman!”

“Ugh, no way, don’t blame that on me. I have no idea how you stand the stuff.”

“Sure you don’t.” The fact that he knows what she’s talking about is proof enough that he’s lying, because Rise knows she’s never willingly listened to it. But at least their bickering has lightened the mood. Kanji is willing to meet her eyes again.

“So, uh, now what?” he asks.

Rise shrugs. “I don’t know, it’s not like I’ve done this before. You wanna just hang out and figure it out later?”

Kanji looks panicked for a moment, then squares his shoulders. “Yeah, okay.” He’s probably trying to sound nonchalant. It’s not succeeding, the attempt is so endearing that Rise can’t help but smile.

She takes his arm, which makes him go red. He doesn’t complain, though, and they walk that way the rest of the way.

* * *

In theory, Naoto’s at the Junes food court to study for exams with the rest of the Investigation Team. She can’t say she’s surprised by how quickly that falls apart. Her senpai don’t seem a particularly studious group, with the possible exception of their leader. She’s less familiar with her fellow first-years, but they seem just as willing to be distracted from their work.

She did not however expect this level of deterioration. Somehow she and Rise are the only ones left at the table. Everyone’s things are still there, so she presumes they’ll come back, but Naoto intends to take advantage of the quiet and try to focus.

Her plan lasts for maybe five minutes. Then Rise starts humming, apparently unconsciously. Naoto would be happy to ignore it if the tune wasn’t the one that had been running through her mind for most of her stay in the TV world. It’s unlike most of what she’s gotten from her soulmate before, melodic and piano intensive, and her curiosity gets the best of her. “What are you humming?” she asks. Rise doesn’t answer immediately, so Naoto elaborates. “I’m afraid I’m not up to date with popular music, and I’ve had that song stuck in my head recently.”

Rise smiles in a way that makes Naoto wary. Has she inadvertently said something amusing? “You don’t listen to popular music,” Rise repeats. “So what do you listen to? Jazz?”

“What? Occasionally, but I don’t see how that’s relevant.”

Rise’s grin widens. “And what do you think about enka?”

Naoto can feel her face going pink. “I… my grandfather listens to it, though I wouldn’t say I have any personal attachment to it.” She prays Rise won’t call her bluff. “Why does it matter?”

“You know how in the TV world, the landscape changes based on people’s minds?” Naoto blinks at the apparent non-sequitur. Rise continues without seeming to notice her confusion. “It also creates background music to go with it. I’ve been broadcasting it to the others with my Persona as a way to keep things from getting too boring. And that song I was humming? It’s the music from your secret lab.”

Naoto can’t keep from making a face. She’s more than ready to move on and never think about that place again.

Once she’s past her disgust, though, a thought occurs to her. If the music in her head is really from the TV world, there are only seven people on the planet who could have heard it. Which means her soulmate is someone on the Investigation Team. And given Rise’s expression and the questions she’s been asking, there’s an obvious suspect.

“Are you implying,” she begins, and then stops. She’s not sure she wants to deal with this right now. There’s the case to consider, and exams are coming up, and she’s always thought relationships were a waste of energy anyway. There’s no reason to change her mind because of some ill-defined mental link between them.

But Rise is nodding, her smile wider than the billboards it so often graces. “We’re soulmates! Kanji is going to be so excited.”

It’s enough to stop Naoto’s racing mind in her tracks. “What?” she asks again. The conversation is going too quickly for her to keep of. She’s seen Rise and Kanji holding hands, and had assumed they were dating. She doesn’t see why hearing that your girlfriend had met her soulmate would be cause for excitement.

“Oh, he’s my soulmate too. And probably yours, if you’re the mysterious enka fan.” Rise stands and begins scanning the food court for signs of Kanji.

It gives Naoto a chance to try to sort herself out. Rise seems so calm about this all, as if meeting a soulmate isn’t a life-changing event. And apparently Naoto has two, both of whom are right here in Inaba. It’s not unheard of to have multiple soulmates, but the chances of meeting them both in such a short timespan seem low. They’re still only first-years in high school.

She’d probably have worked herself further into a panic if Kanji hadn’t chosen that moment to come over. “What is it?” he asks. “People are gonna stare if you keep waving and making a scene like that.”

Rise ignores the admonishment. “Guess what we just figured out?” Kanji blinks, but Rise doesn’t give him a chance to guess before she tells him. “Naoto-kun is our soulmate too!”

“Really?” Kanji goes beet red. He’s smiling, though, and Naoto doesn’t know if that makes it better or worse. “That’s cool.”

They both look at her expectantly. It’s too much. She doesn’t know what they want from her, but she doesn’t think she can provide it. She’s still trying to get used to having friends at all. She can’t risk ruining what’s supposed to be the most important relationship in her life.

Besides, the others could come back at any moment. They don’t need to be dragged into this.

“I’m sorry,” she says, “but I don’t think now is the time for this conversation. We have other priorities.”

Kanji’s face falls. Rise nods, though, looking thoughtful. “Okay,” she says. “You can’t avoid it forever, though. And I think we should hang out more anyway. Us first-years have to stick together.”

“Yeah, that sounds good,” Kanji says. “Why should we let some weird music make things awkward between us?”

“I suppose that would be all right.” Their proposal sounds ideal, really, but that’s only if things go as smoothly as they make it sound. Naoto isn’t entirely convinced. Personal relationships are rarely that simple, in her experience.

But she would like to get to know them better, had wanted to even before their connection came to light, and now she has an excuse to. She’ll go along with it for now.

“In that case, I propose we resume studying. I’d like to hear your thoughts on the material.”

They both groan, and Naoto can’t help but smile. One way or another, this is going to be interesting.

* * *

They’ve just finished a particularly grueling expedition into the TV. With Nanako in danger, no one had wanted to be the first to ask for a break, so they’d all pushed themselves a little too far.

By the time they stumble out of Junes, Naoto’s dragging her feet, clearly not looking forward to the walk home. Her exhaustion is obvious enough that even Kanji notices. He manages to stutter out an invitation to his house, “Only if you want, I mean, and just to rest for a little while. It’s not like – I know you’re not interested in anything, and I respect that.”

Naoto thanks him, and they head off. Rise tags along, of course. This sounds much better than sitting alone in her room trying to work up the motivation to do her English homework.

The walk back is quiet. Rise can’t speak for the others, but she’s busy trying to will away a headache.

She’s feeling a little more human by the time they reach the shop. They file through the store, mumbling greetings to Kanji’s mother, and into Kanji’s living room. Rise immediately lies down on the floor, her hair pooling around her. She’s not in the mood to try to be a person.

Naoto pulls a book out of her schoolbag. She tries reading it for maybe five seconds before giving up and staring into space, the book still open on her lap. Kanji’s grabbed something small and fluffy and works on it absently.

Rise’s almost fallen asleep by the time Kanji speaks again. “Do you think we’ll have to fight Nanako-chan’s Shadow?” She cracks an eye open to look at him. He looks uncomfortable with the thought. “I mean, if this is anything like those other times…”

“It’s hard to imagine such a young girl having that much to hide about herself.” Naoto shakes her head. “Though I suppose that’s the point. You can’t know until it happens.”

“I don’t know,” Rise says. “This place feels different, somehow. I mean, I would have thought we’d have heard from her Shadow by now if it was going to show up.”

“That’s true.” Naoto sighs. “Just when we thought we had an answer, we have to question everything we thought we knew.”

They consider it for a moment. It’s a heavy thought, and not one Rise feels like dealing with right now. She’s only just gotten comfortable. “You know, I always wanted a sister like Nanako-chan,” she says instead. “Or really any siblings. It seems like it’d be fun.”

Naoto makes a noise of agreement. “I used to wish I had a younger sibling to be my sidekick,” she says. “All the great detectives seemed to have one, and I liked the idea of having someone to tell me how smart I was.” She’s smiling, though her cheeks are a little pink at the admission.

Kanji shrugs. “I mean, I can’t speak for younger siblings, but having an older one isn’t that great. It just means you gotta fight someone to get the good snacks.”

Rise sits up, suddenly awake. “Wait, you have a sibling?”

“Yeah, an older brother. He’s like six years older than me, though, so I haven’t seen him in a while.” Kanji keeps working on the mysterious fluffy thing as if it’s no big deal. It probably isn’t, but for some reason this seems like big news to Rise.

“No way!” she says. “You have to tell us next time he’s in town. I need to get all your embarrassing childhood stories from him.”

Naoto laughs quietly. Kanji looks between them, stricken. “What? No way, I bet he doesn’t even have any. I mean, he’s probably forgotten them by now, right?”

“I don’t know,” Naoto says, just too lightly to be serious. “I imagine you were a very memorable child.”

Kanji groans. “Shut up,” he says. “You both were probably just as bad.”

Naoto suddenly becomes invested in her book. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Rise can’t help but laugh. This is exactly where she wants to be, she thinks suddenly. Just being with Kanji and Naoto is enough to erase the stress of the afternoon. She could easily spend the rest of her life with them.

She also really wants to kiss them both. She won’t, because that would probably break them, but it would be nice. She’ll just have to look for the right time.

Judging by the soft expressions on both of their faces, she doesn’t think she’ll be waiting very long.

* * *

Kanji is definitely not nervous. Sure, he’s about to spend Christmas Eve with his soulmates, both of whom are very attractive girls, but that’s fine. They’ve all agreed to take things slow anyway. There’s no pressure, and he considers both of them good friends, and he’s definitely not nervous.

It would help if they’d stop listening to dumb love songs. He’s had the same corny tune stuck in his head practically since Ameno-sagiri.

He ends up showing up at Rise’s house early, unable to stand waiting any longer. Naoto isn’t there yet, which makes sense. She’d gone home straight after school to get ready. Kanji doesn’t have time to worry if he’s underprepared, though, because Rise answers the door before he’s even knocked. She sees the bag he’s holding and squeals. “Oh, you brought me a present? Let me see!”

“Hey, at least wait until Naoto gets here!” He can’t summon up any real annoyance, though. Seeing Rise acting exactly like she normally does puts him at ease. They’ve hung out together plenty. There’s no reason to put any special emphasis on it now, just because it’s Christmas.

Speaking of which, a thought occurs to Kanji, and he goes pale. “You, uh, didn’t make a Christmas cake, did you?”

Rise frowns. “No, I assumed you were going to bring one.”

“What? How was I supposed to know that?” Still, he can’t help but be relieved. No Christmas cake is better than having to eat another of Rise’s attempts at cooking.

“Well, I guess we’re stuck with Christmas tofu.” Rise shakes her head in disappointment that Kanji is pretty sure is faked. “Good going, Moronji. You ruined Christmas.”

He’s spared any more ridiculous accusations by Naoto’s arrival. “Am I interrupting something?” she asks.

That’s when Kanji realizes that they’re all still standing in the doorway. Rise seems to realize the same thing. “Nah, you’re fine,” she says. “Come on in.”

She takes them straight up to her room, where there are already two wrapped presents sitting neatly on her bed. “Tada! Go on, open them!”

“Presents already?” Naoto smiles. “This isn’t the only reason you invited us over, is it?”

Rise sticks out her tongue. “I invited you because we’re friends and I care about you, but clearly you don’t feel the same way. Maybe I shouldn’t give you anything after all.”

“Sheesh,” Kanji says. “if you’re going to be like that, here, I’ll go first.” He reaches into his bag and pulls out a crocheted penguin and owl. “These took forever to make, so you’d better appreciate them.”

He all but shoves them at the girls, refusing to make eye contact. Rise takes her penguin with no small amount of delight. Naoto accepts the owl, but she has that look she gets when she’s one clue away from solving a mystery. “May I ask why these birds in particular?”

“I figured that if Rise finally found the penguin, she could stop stealing my goddamn animal crackers to look for it.” He sets down his bag and puts his hands in his pockets just for something to do with them. “And then I thought about what kinds of animals were smart, and owls were on the list, and I thought maybe you’d like having presents that sort of matched? I mean, since they’re both birds.”

He trails off, wondering if he’s messed up, but Naoto has a look of wonder on her face. “I see,” she says softly. Her smile isn’t as wide as Rise’s, but seeing it makes Kanji’s heart do something complicated. “Thank you, Kanji-kun.”

Kanji can’t take his eyes off of her. She’s so gorgeous, and she looks so happy and it’s all thanks to him.

He doesn’t realize he’s going to kiss her until he does. He pulls away almost immediately, face hot. “I’m so sorry! I didn’t – I’m not – I’m so sorry!”

Naoto doesn’t respond, just stares with wide eyes. She’s holding the owl so tight that for a moment Kanji’s worried the stitches will tear.

Rise makes a disgusted noise. “Kanji!” she scolds. He cringes. He deserves whatever’s coming. “Way to steal my thunder!”

It takes him a moment to process that. Then, “Wait, what?”

Rise rolls her eyes. “I was planning to wait, but if you’re going to be impatient about it…” She leans in and kisses him gently.

Kanji’s pretty sure he’s supposed to be responding, but he’s a little busy trying to keep his brain from melting. Rise leans back before he can do anything anyway. “There,” she says, sounding far too pleased with herself. “Hey, Naoto? Let me know if we’re going too fast, but I’d really like to kiss you too.”

Naoto makes a strangled noise that might be a laugh. “I… I think I’d like that,” she says.

They kiss. Kanji can’t look away. It might be a little weird, but also they’re both just so perfect and Kanji is so lucky to have them as soulmates.

He realizes he still has that same dumb love song stuck in his head. He can’t bring himself to mind, though. Nothing can ruin this moment for him. Besides, the lyrics seem a lot less cheesy now. He knows exactly what they’re talking about.


End file.
